Unless noted, all of our best Cydia apps are available by searching Cydia without adding any extra repos.

Auxo – An Awesome Switcher

Auxo is one of the best Cydia apps available for iOS 6. Auxo replaces Apple’s tired old Switcher with one that shows a card for each open app for a nicer looking switcher. User can also end and app with a swipe down, or end multiple apps at once by swiping down with more than one finger.

Swipe left to right in Auxo for a larger easier to use music control app and again for access to quick settings and a screen brightness toggle like the iPad.

Auxo is compatible with iOS 5.1 through iOS 6.1 and is iPhone only. Auxo costs $1.99.

WinterBoard and ayecon Theme

Jailbreaking the iPhone or iPad is a great way to customize the look of the device, and Winterboard is the best Cydia app for giving your iOS device a new look.

WinterBoard is a free Cydia app that allows users to download and install themes that customize the look of the iPhone icons, status bar and much more.

Users can search for a number of great Winterboard themes for the iPhone and iPad, but ayecon is a standout theme that users should check out right off the bat. Ayecon, pronounced icon, is a $2.99 WinterBoard theme that includes over 120 new icons that automatically replace stock and third-party icons.

FullForce for iPhone

Most iPhone apps are updated to run on the iPhone 5’s larger screen, but not all of them are quite ready. Full Force for iPhone is a 99 cent Cydia app that forces older apps to use the full screen on the iPhone 5.

FullForce for iPhone forces iPhone 4S apps to fit the iPhone 5.

The app works on most apps without any issue, though occasionally an in-app ad may show up higher than it should. The biggest reason for installing this is to keep the iPhone 5’s keyboard from getting pushed up form the bottom of the screen.

f.lux

F.lux is one of the essential Cydia apps for users who use the iPhone or iPad at night or early in the morning. The app adjusts the temperature of the display to prevent the super-bright display from messing with your ability to fall sleep.

f.lux is a great Cydia app for night time iPhone users.

The app determines sunset based on your location and adjust the screen accordingly. There is an option to turn it off quickly if you need the iPhone or iPad’s screen to be normal.

IntelliscreenX

IntelliscreenX is a lock screen Cydia app that puts the Notification Center, Facebook, Twitter, News and more on the lockscreen so it’s easy to see what’s going on without unlocking the iPhone.

IntelliscreenX is $9.99 for new users and a $4.99 upgrade for existing users. The app comes with a free trial.

LowPower Banner

If you hate those annoying low battery popups that interrupt whatever you are doing to tell you that battery life is at 20% or 10% left, grab the free LowPower Banner cydia app.

Ban big battery alerts with this free cydia app.

LowPower Banner lets users customize the actions and sounds when the phone is charging, and when battery power is low. Most importantly it makes the pop up alert for low battery life an unobtrusive banner.

Nitrous

Safari can load pages faster than other apps, but with the Nitrous Cydia app users of the iOS 6 jailbreak can speed up Chrome and browsers built into other apps like Alien Blue.

Th Nitrous Cydia app speeds up browsing.

Nitrous lets third-party browsers use the Nitro Javascript engine that is normally reserved just for Safari, speeding up browsing across the board. Nitrous is 99 cents in Cydia.

Springtomize

Springtomize is an app that lets user take control of many iPhone and iPad settings. The $3 Cydia app allows users to put more icons in the dock, create more rows of icons and perform other icon related tweaks.

Springtomize 2 delivers control of many iPhone tweaks.

Springtomize also allows users to put a custom carrier in the upper right corner, and much, much more. Check out Springtomize on the Cydia app store to see everything it can do.

Octopus Keyboard

Users who like the look of the BlackBerry 10 keyboard, with on key word suggestions and the ability to flick a word up to the text entry box, will like the Octopus Keyboard.

The Octopus Keyboard is like a BlackBerry 10 keyboard for the iPhone.

Octopus Keyboard is a $5 keyboard replacement that users will love or hate. The app takes some getting used to, so it would be nice if there was a trial, but at $5 it’s worth a shot for users who want a different typing experience on the iPhone.

Activator

Activator is a free Cydia app that allows users to set up gestures to take the place of button presses. The app is one of the first Cydia apps available and it remains a must have Cydia app.

Activator is a free Cydia app that brings more gesture control to the iOS 6.

In addition to the built-in functions, users can also download third-party Activator extensions to do even more.

BeeKeyboard

BeeKeyboard is a Cydia app that is best suited for the iPad or iPad mini as it allows users to set up custom Bluetooth keyboard gestures.

Users can even link BeeKeyboard up with Activator for more control and download add ons to control apps like Safari from the keyboard.

SBSettings or NC Settings

SBSettings and NCSettings are two Cydia apps that put quick controls in the Notification Center or with a swipe on the status bar.

NCSettings offers fast access to iPhone settings toggles.

Both of these apps offer fast access to toggles for Bluetooth, re-springing, brightness and more. SBSettings and NCSettings are free in the Cydia app store.

BiteSMS

BiteSMS is a message replacement Cydia app that offers a lot of added functionality to users who want to to quick reply to messages, auto-forward and other features.

BiteSMS is a free Cydia app, but users can get a pro version with no ads. BiteSMS is a continual favorite jailbreak app and it’s as good as ever on the iPhone 5.

Dashboard X

Dashboard X is a great Cydia app that lets users put widgets on the iPhone home screen, like Android users can. The app can let users widgets like NCSettings on the home screen and widgets to tweet or calendars.

Here are a collection of the best Dashboard X widgets to get you started. Dashboard X is $1.99 in Cydia.

MapsOpener

If you prefer to use Google Maps over Apple Maps, MapsOpener is a Cydia tweak that will force the iPhone to open map links in Google Maps automatically.

Plugication

Plugication is a nice small Cydia tweak that automatically starts playing your music when you plug your headphones in. This is handy for users who rely on the iPhone or iPad for music and audio books, and a great way to get your music started back up when plugging into an AUX in a car. Plugication is free.

Zephyr

Jailbreak users looking for more gesture control can install Zephyr to control the iPhone with multitasking gestures like those found on the iPad.

For example, users can swipe up to reveal the switcher and swipe from the side to switch apps. Zephyr is $4.99 on the Cydia app store.

Quasar

Quasar is a window manager for the iPad that allows users to use multiple apps at once, kind of like the Galaxy Note 2, but with more flexibility. Users can open apps in windows side by side as shown in the video below.

Quasar is one of the best Cydia apps for the iPad and it costs $9.99 in the Cydia app store.

TetherMe

TetherMe is a Cydia app that promises free tethering for iPhone users without paying their carriers’ monthly fees. The App claims to hide tethering activity, but it is likely against your terms of service so use it at your own risk.

TetherMe uses the same Personal Hotspot feature that is built into the iPhone for WiFi, Bluetooth and USB tethering. TetherMe is $4.99 in the Cydia app store.

3G Unrestrictor

3G Unrestrictor is a Cydia app that removes the limits Apple puts on downloads, letting users download large apps, HD movies and more while on 3G and 4G LTE.

3G Unrestrictor is $3.99 in the Cydia app store. Users should be cautious of going over their mobile data plan limits.

iBlackList

Do you constantly get phone calls from an ex or from a debt collector? If so iBlackList is a great Cydia app to install. After installing iBlackList, the iPhone will block calls, iMessages, texts, photo messages and FaceTime calls from unwanted people and companies.

iBlackList blocks calls, texts and more on the iPhone.

iBlackList is a available as a free trial with a $12 purchase option.

Retro Gaming Emulators

Nintendo won’t likely ever bring old gaming classics like Mario to the iPhone, but with a jailbreak and the right Cydia apps it’s possible to play NES and Super NES games on the iPhone with an emulator. Users can also pair a controller for a better experience.

NES.emu is only available through the developer’s website, and SNes 9X EX is available in Cydia. The apps do not come with ROMS, and it is illegal to download ROMS of copyrighted games.

Password Pilot

Password Pilot and Password Pilot Pro are Cydia apps that remove the need to enter your iTunes App Store password when you buy an app or upgrade in iTunes.

This is not recommended if you share your iPhone with others, or don’t use a PassCode as anyone who has your phone will be able to make purchases. Password Pilot is Free, Password Pilot Pro includes more options and is $1.9 in Cydia.

sean

jay67

02/18/2013 at 5:01 pm

Are there any apps that would enable you to create a new contact group, say a subset of a larger group just for a car’s Bluetooth, and have that group show under the contacts icon when pressed, along with your original group ? It is amazing how bad Iphone’s contact mgt is after what, 10 years of ios development. I guess your supposed to buy an app. I don’t mind paying, but the ones I have tried only create groups within the 3’rd party app and that, of course, does not show when trying to dload over BT to car. I would think lots of folks want custom contact groups for specific occasions/devices.

Gary

It makes you wonder why Apple doesn’t add some of this functionality to their OS directly, especially things like Auxo and Quasar. These make Apple MUCH more competitive with Samsung products and yet, not only do they not include them, their latest 6.1.3 prevents current users from accessing them. It’s as if Apple intentionally wants to suck. I simply do not compute.